Hi, everyone, I'm Kristen Hawkins, and thanks for joining me for a new episode of Explicitly Pro Life Podcast.

Today we have a special guest on Nicole Neely.

She is the present and founder of parents defending education, a nonpartisan, nonprofit,

national organization that gives parents and resources and the resources and the support they

need to advocate for their children's education.

She also, prior to founding PDE, she was also created Speech First, a nationwide membership organization

that defends college students free speech rights through litigation, other means.

Since their debut in February 2018, Speech First has filed federal lawsuits against the University

of Michigan, University of Texas, University of Illinois, Iowa State, Central Florida, Virginia

Tech for violating its students' members' speech rights, securing major victories at the appellate

level, enforcing policy changes not only at the schools in question, but dozens of other schools

across the country. She has a lot of experience serving in this role. And I'm so excited to talk with her today

because we have a lot to talk about Nicole and what you're doing with parents defending education

as well as defending students' free speech rights. But the reason I asked you on, Nicole,

is I want to hear what you're doing with this new organization,

because as you know, we are experiencing a major movement in the American culture right now,

where parents are really, I think, for the first time in a while,

paying attention as to what the child's getting taught in school.

Yeah, this all kind of got started, you know, during COVID, like all things did.

And I think it, you know, it's kind of ugly, obviously, to say that there's a silver lining to COVID,

but I think it was a real opportunity for people to suddenly see what their children were learning

on a regular basis because classrooms were in people's living rooms.

...